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Bloomington has grown since decade one

Aerial view of Bloomington, Indiana, 1954, photographed in a glass case at City Hall, Bloomington. The city is now about three times more populous than it was then…but five times bigger geographically.

Bloomington’s always been a small town, right? There must’ve been a long period, you think, when nothing much about it changed. And certainly Bloomington has always been dominated by IU students. They’ve always been a huge part of the city’s life.

Right?

But then you look at the numbers.

Bloomington’s bicentennial is coming up in a couple of years. From year one, actually, Bloomington has grown — often by leaps and bounds. And IU students have been more than half the city’s population only since the 1960s. Between censuses, the city may have shrunk for a year or two occasionally, but the decennial figures tell the plain story. Bloomington, like IU, Monroe County, and the state of Indiana, has always gotten bigger. I’m not saying that’s good or bad; I’m just reporting.

Here’s the stat that should really blow your mind:

Since 1960, Bloomington has grown, steadily, by an average of almost a thousand people a year.

Only half of that growth is directly attributable to the growth in IU enrollment. Just let all that sink in. Compare to other cities around the state, around the midwest. If you’re wondering why there’s so much housing going up around town, this might explain why.

Halfway to the next census, there’s no sign the trend is easing. The current official enrollment of IU in the fall of 2015 is 48,514. (This figure should be taken with a grain of salt: in 2013, IU began counting high-school AP credit-takers as enrolled students. For an approximate population number, subtract four or five thousand.) The 2015 estimate forBloomington is 84,067, for Monroe County is 144,705, and for the state of Indiana is 6,619,680.

There are a couple of data points in the table below that are estimates: the population of Bloomington in 1850, the actual enrollment count of students in the first year IU graduated anyone (1830). Other than those, this table represents, to my knowledge, the most complete historical reckoning of the population of Monroe County, of Bloomington, and of the enrollment at Indiana University. (The Census expects students to complete a census form where they go to college. The numbers for the city and county include students throughout. While some students choose to be counted at home, we assume this tendency occurs with the same frequency in every place with a college.)

Some other highlights of this data set:

Most people think that IU has always been the dominant population and economic entity in the city. In fact, IU students were only a quarter of the city at the beginning of World War II. The ratio of students to townies in the 19th century never rose above ten percent.

The enrollment at IU now accounts for two-thirds of one percent of the population of the entire state — an all-time high.

Bloomington became a metropolitan area in 1980, when it reached 50,000 residents.

Moral of the story: always check the numbers.

# # #

[Hint: scroll right inside the table to see the Comments column.]

Two Centuries of Bloomington Population and IU Enrollment

Cens Year

IU Enr

BMG

MON

IND

IU/ BMG

IU/ MON

IU/ IND

BMG/ MON

Comments___________________________________

1820

0

300

2679

147178

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

11.2%

**BMG: 140 at end of 1818; ~300 by 1820 (Harvey). §First students numbered 10-13; began no earlier than either 1824 or 1825

1830

40

700

6577

343031

5.7%

0.6%

0.012%

10.6%

§IU is an estimate; students numbered no more than 60 (Wylie). First 4 students graduated IU in 1830. BMG**

1840

64

1200

10143

685866

5.3%

0.6%

0.009%

11.8%

BMG: 1200 (1847)*

1850

78

1600

11286

988416

4.9%

0.7%

0.008%

14.2%

§BMG: SGV estimate

1860

100

2118

12847

1350428

4.7%

0.8%

0.007%

16.5%

BMG: 2118 (1866)*

1870

194

2404

14168

1680637

8.1%

1.4%

0.012%

17.0%

BMG: 2404 (1876)***

1880

184

2756

15875

1978301

6.7%

1.2%

0.009%

17.4%

BMG***; 3200 (1886)*

1890

321

4018

17673

2192404

8.0%

1.8%

0.015%

22.7%

BMG***

1900

629

6460

20873

2516462

9.7%

3.0%

0.025%

30.9%

1910

1170

8838

23426

2700876

13.2%

5.0%

0.043%

37.7%

1920

2372

11595

24519

2930390

20.5%

9.7%

0.081%

47.3%

1930

3591

18227

35974

3238503

19.7%

10.0%

0.111%

50.7%

1940

5367

20870

36534

3427796

25.7%

14.7%

0.157%

57.1%

1950

10848

28163

50080

3934224

38.5%

21.7%

0.276%

56.2%

1960

13217

31357

59225

4662498

42.2%

22.3%

0.283%

52.9%

1970

29428

43262

85221

5195392

68.0%

34.5%

0.566%

50.8%

1980

31843

52044

98785

5490210

61.2%

32.2%

0.580%

52.7%

1990

34863

60633

108978

5544159

57.5%

32.0%

0.629%

55.6%

2000

36201

69291

120563

6080485

52.2%

30.0%

0.595%

57.5%

2010

42347

80405

137974

6483802

52.7%

30.7%

0.653%

58.3%

Population and Enrollment, State of Indiana, Monroe County, City of Bloomington, and Indiana University, 1820-2010. Compiled by Stephen Volan, 2015.

Where possible, data from US Bureau of the Census has been used. No federal census data exists for City of Bloomington before 1900.

IU data post-1900: IU Fact Books .

Most IU data pre-1900: Wylie, Theophilus Adam. Indiana University, Its History from 1820, when Founded, to 1890: with Biographical Sketches of Its Presidents, Professors and Graduates: and a List of Its Students from 1820 to 1887. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1890.